Her majesty’s birthday

This entire weekend the thought that continued to go through my head was “my life is awesome.” The highlights:


JENNI

This is Jenni. Jenni and I go to law school together, and she is working in Sydney for the summer and decided to come check out the Gold Coast for the weekend. I love her – we had such fun! And she loves that hat – totally makes her look Australian.






THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK SPECTACULAR

Friday night we went to this new tourist trap. There was steak, country singers, horses, and lots and lots of hats (a ‘free’ hat was included with the price of admission – hence why Jenni is wearing one). When we first arrived I felt so happy there, and was later contemplating why I so loved the place and realized I felt like I was in Texas – my home! The highlight of the evening was definitely the camel racing (I didn’t know camels could move like that – incredible). Also great was the first mention of ‘Fosters’ beer since I arrived here, and when they served us our steak after showcasing their cows’ talents. Twisted.

GOURMET BREAKFAST

Intrigued by the promise of seeing dolphins and an included gourmet breakfast, Jenni and I decided that on Saturday morning we would do the “sunrise kayaking” tour. I emailed the listed address to make reservations, and after a week of emailing back and forth between “David” and me, Saturday morning finally arrived! Though awakening to a rainy and cloudy morning, we decided to still meet David at the designated spot. We were stopped en route because the police wouldn’t let us through (David later told us “there was an incident…stupid Kiwis”). But we saw a “Gold Cost Kayaking” van on the side of the road, and finally met David. He was our guide. He wasn’t wearing any shoes and had no tan lines indicating he ever did wear shoes or socks! David is amazing. He provided us with wetsuits and kayaks, and as it was raining and the winter, it was just the three of us that day. We kayaked to our private island, and upon arriving David got out his portable burner and fried us up bacon and eggs. While our “gourmet breakfast” was cooking, it started pouring rain, and there was nowhere to get shelter. So Jenni and I were standing in our wetsuits, drenched with the rain, watching David cook us the gourmet breakfast we paid $45 for. When the food finished cooking, he put the bacon and eggs in-between two pieces of white break and we feasted. It was really good, besides the fact it was soggy (rain) and the taste was slightly altered as we were eating with our hands and they tasted like saltwater. I so desperately wanted to take a photo of this moment, but there was no way to shelter the camera from the rain. It was hysterical.

After our breakfast, David provided us with snorkeling equipment and Jenni and I snorkeled around and saw lots of very cool fish.

After snorkeling, David led us to another secluded island, and instructed us that we didn’t need to wear our flip-flops unless we had really sensitive feet, as it was just an island of sand. And so we walked barefoot (we should have thought about who was giving us this advice) through shells, tall bush, small pine-cone-like things, kangaroo droppings…it was so funny. But we did see this most amazing – and completely undeveloped – island and saw our first wild kangaroos.

After this tour, we kayaked back to our starting point. Oh yeah – David also showed us pelicans. They are nuts. And he kept on talking to us about Australian beer and getting wasted on the weekends, even though we told him we didn’t drink!

I cannot do any justice to the wonderful, wonderful time Jenni and I had. It was four hours, it was funny, and it was hard-core. We loved every second of it, and gave David a big tip at the end!

ELDER SCOTT

This weekend was also stake conference, and the Gold Coast had their first visit by an apostle in 20 years. At the beginning of the first meeting, I leaned over to Jenny and told her how if I were to ever speak at a meeting with an apostle present, I would be sure to quote him in my talk and then look over and smile, because that would be anticipated. We were both delighted when the first speaker did just that! Australians are so relaxed – no one seemed nervous giving their talks, and they were all cracking jokes. The meetings were wonderful

LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK

After stake conference, we drove to the Gold Coast Hinterland and got to see how diverse Australia really is. It was just gorgeous – and we again saw kangaroos in the wild. Lots of them! These caves were once used by aboriginees! The National Park also had a lot of educational playground stuff for kids. The kids parks in Australia are amazing – I went to at least three this weekend.

DRIVING

Yes – I did it. I drove on the left-side of the road. I drove one of the firm’s car, and thanks to our mutual though odd passion for maps, Jenni and I never got lost. (*note – I have not gotten lost once since arriving here. Incredible!) The only problem I encountered driving was that whenever I would try to put on my blinker to change lanes or turn, I would instead turn on the windshield wipers (they switched sides, too). Of course, as I was telling Jenni how easy it was to drive on the left-side of the road, she said “well, actually, you are kind of driving over the lines and into the other lane”. Ahh – the other problem. It’s impossible to figure out the depth-perception with sitting on the right side of the car. I would say sitting on the right is far trickier than driving on the left. And, though I like having a car to drive people around and go places I can’t go on the bus, I will say I prefer public transport. Why drive when you can just sit there and read? (please ignore my horrid farmer's tan which is showcased in this photo)


YAMBA

I had to do something cool on Monday, as I had the day off work (Queen’s Birthday holiday!) and I had a car. Jenni went back to Sydney on Sunday night, so I was debating whether I should go to an amusement park alone or just go to the beach. Then, when my boss gave me the car for the weekend he told me I should check out northern New South Wales because it was the greatest place in Australia – “God’s Country” he called it. He mentioned Yamba in particular. So, Monday morning I drove a couple hours and found Yamba. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, and Yamba turned out to be a small town that had great bakeries and wasn’t touristy! I loved it. Perhaps even better, on my way back I came across “New Italy” and “MacLean: the Scottish town in Australia”. The entire “New Italy” seemed to consist of the rest stop that not only had public toilets, but also a museum, glass blowing display, Italian restaurant, and aboriginee store. Rest stops in Australia are really something else. And I don’t know how Maclean was Scottish either…I think it was more of a brilliant plan to get tourists to come to this small town and boost their economy. It worked – I went and bought what was probably the best sandwich I have eaten in my entire life. It was good to see the other side of Australia – the Gold Coast (where I live) is all flashy and neon lights.

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY

It’s always hard to return to work after a long weekend. Luckily, I only have to work two days this week because Thursday I am meeting my dad and brother Russell in Sydney! I love my three-month vacation.

MISC

Most exciting of all – Jenni noted that I am starting to talk like an Australian! Crikey!